Starry Night
by GoldCatMaster
Summary: Profound moments...
1. Default Chapter

**Well, here I am. Did you like my last stab at comedy? It's weird–it's a little different than comedy, because I write my essays like that a lot. You know, actually having a 'sorta' conversation through the paper to the teacher, and getting off focus. I'll probably type up one of my older ones I actually wrote in school and Keely-fy it.**

**Back to this–I can get really intense after I read things like The Princess Diaries, or The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, so this is one of my deep moments, much like this one scene where Bridget is looking into the sky...well, you'll just have to read this (and The Sisterhood) for yourself.**

**Okay, here we go:

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**

Tonight, they were both in Phil's backyard. They didn't feel like watching a movie and they didn't want to study. They study enough at school in the first place.And they obviously didn't feel like hanging around parents or cavemen.

Tonight, they had had enough of the futuristic gadgets. Phil had shown her everything even on the market up until 2121. They had played with every gizmo and been to every virtual place that the family had to offer.

Tonight, instead of lounging around their houses or hanging out with other friends, instead of parties or mall scopes, instead of even doing homework, they were lying in the cozy patch of crabgrass that Mr. Diffy had never gotten to, drinking lemonade and speaking in whispers. Counting stars and pointing out constellations. Keeping each other company in the fierce, unusually cold night.

They were, instead of head to head as usual, side by side. They were holding hands, nothing different fromeveryday.

"The sky is different tonight, isn't it?" Keely turned her head to Phil.

"Yeah–it's dark." He teased.

"You know what I mean." She took her free hand and twisted a curly strand of flaxen hair around her finger. "It's brighter than normal this night."

"You're right." He looked up again before speaking. "I think it'd shine like that even if it didn't have stars." He pointed towards the southern sky, knowing how to charm Keely. "I found your constellation." He knew she studied astronomy for fun sometimes.

"You did?" She spoke louder and grabbed the hand that was in the air. She looked where he was pointingand found a handful of stars. "Gemini." She was amazed. She looked at the two hands, one pointing and the other squeezing. They both laughed softly as she put her hand away, leaving the lone pair of hands that were conjoined in the first place. Keely sighed and looked back up at the sky.

"Don't the stars make you think?" Keely asked her best friend.

"Sometimes." He uttered. "About if there's anything out there. If there's more than just us in the galaxy."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. What do they make you think of?" He turned slightly on his side, facing Keely for his answer.

"About the heavens." Keely smiled ineptly. She knew that he didn't like talking about religion very much, but Keely was raised around it. "I mean, you look at the stars, and realize that they're the helm of paradise. You think, wow. What if your entire world ended, and all you had were the stars? All you had was heaven. I don't mean death, I mean tragedy. And then you know that you're small." They both felt profound. After a bit of stillness, Phil asked.

"How does that make you feel?"

"Petty. Frightened." She shivered. "Cold and alone. I'm only one part of life: person. I mean nothing."

"You are never one part of life." Phil laid a hand on her stomach, an awkward move to neither of them. It immediately caused Keely to cease shuddering.

"What makes you say that?" She asked with curiosity.

"You are person, that bit is true. But you're also family. And friend." He gulped and looked to Keely. "And love. You're always love to at least one person in your life. You are always the last thought of someone before they go to sleep."

"Wow, Phil...I..." Keely wasn't stupid. She knew what he meant by the subtle yet obvious comment.

"You're not alone. You shouldn't be afraid." He crept closer towards Keely. "You mean everything to one person."

"Who is this one person, Phil?" She asked, false-genuinely. She rolled onto her side, nestling alongside him, and pulled his arm over her shoulder. Phil could have sworn he had heard her purr as he held her. He felt his cheek burn for a moment as he placed it to Keely's.

"I don't think I should tell you." He whispered into her ear, feeling much more comfortable than ever before.

"Oh well. It doesn't matter. I know anyway." She turned her head a second to see Phil smile like a shy young boy.

"And?" He said almost silently.

"And." She laughed, swiping his fingers with hers and catching the hand closest to her face off-guard with a kiss.

"Look at the stars, Keely." Phil spoke. "Pick one from the sky. I'll give you any star you want." He let the wind carry his words the inches to her ear. "Even a constellation."

"I want..." Keely's choice swept the sky. "that one." She lifted her hand high enough to orient his eyes to the brightest, farthest star in the sky. Just to test him.

"Alright. I'll get it." He didn't move.

"When?"

Phil thought. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll leave that star on your doorstep."

Keely giggled. Suddenly, a voice smothered their serenity. "Keely, you need to come home." Her mother called.

"I don't wanna." Keely yelled back. Phil snickered while she burrowed her head in his chest.

"Young lady, what has caught your eye for so long that you must stay over there?"

"Phil." She said back.

"I want you back in five."

"Hours? Alright."

"Minutes." They both heard a door slam.

"I don't want to leave." She muffled through his stomach.

"I want you to leave. How else am I gonna have time to get the star?" Phil ticked her chin, which got her up and laughing. "Go home and sleep. Then we can cuddle in the morning." He stood up as well.

"Phil Diffy?" She looked into his eyes. His soul shone through. "I...I love you." She said with tears of joy. Phil took her in his arms and held her tight for what seemed forever.

"I love you, Keely." He whispered in her ear again. He let her go, and she ran out of the yard and into her house.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Keely spoke softly and Phil heard.

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**There's gonna be an epilogue, a really...I dunno how to explain it, but it's going to be...emotional. I don't know how much, but there will be emotion. See you for later. **

**Teej. **


	2. Epilogue

_--She kissed the paper bag and planted Mimi in the hole. Then she covered her over and put the grass back in place. She sat down on the grass over the two of them. She saw how pretty the moon looked, falling low on the horizon. A big part of her wanted to curl up into the smallest, simplest possible existence and let the world rush around without her. _

_--She lay down. She curled up. And then she changed her mind. _

_--She was alive, and they were dead. She had to try to make her life big. As big as she could. She promised Bailey she would keep playing._

– –_Ann Brashares

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_

She didn't see him tomorrow.

She didn't see him the next day, or on Monday, a school day. She had covered for him during roll call, not knowing exactly where he was herself.

On Tuesday she had began to find herself breaking into a cold sweat when she found that no one had seen Phil or Pim around school. She would have rang at their doorstep, but she was much too scared if what she would find.

By the next week she had given up hope. They were gone, and they weren't coming back no matter how much she beat herself up about it.

She really couldn't sleep with the idea that her love had left plaguing her psyche. When she thought about it, there were two things that could have happened.

One, they had left for the future, and didn't tell her. That situation made Keely feel horrible, and she didn't want to think about it.

On the other hand, they had been worried about the government figuring out where they had came from and taking them away for testing. Maybe their suspicions were for a good reason. Maybe someone took them away. That made Keely shiver and squirm, and she only thought of it once until she pledged that she'd never think that thought again.

She had gotten worse and worse by each day. The first day knowing he was gone would always be the worst, however. That was the day she'd taken her mother's beer from the refrigerator and guzzled it down. Her mother was not an avid drinker, but she used it to loosen after a stressful day. Keely had thought it could work the same, but it had tasted horrible. Yet, after a while, she had begun to feel a bit calmer, and took another Heineken from the fridge.

Two weeks after the incident, Keely strolled outside to a dark grey night sky with a green-glass bottle in hand. She could care less if anyone saw her–goody two shoes no more, she would say. She ran into the Diffy's unlocked house and shut the door behind her. Looking around at the empty mocking picture frames on the walls and the unlit candles standing still in the foyer, she bit her tongue and glared at everything she was reminded of. She saw a vase on the floor, standing proud and erect, as if it was glad to be deserted. She stomped on it, and it shattered into millions of small, crystal pieces.

"Broken glass." She smiled smugly. "Now I'm not alone." She walked into the backyard. There lay Curtis's favorite rawhide chewies, the ones presented to him at Christmastime and lasted most of all year, which was surprising to anyone who knew Curtis at all. She picked one up and threw it over the fence, hearing a small clunk from the road afterwards.

Keely looked down at the grass. A little browned, and more crabgrass than usual, but overall looked like someone lived there. She lied her head to the lawn and recollected from the Friday night. As she rested on the grass, she saw her constellation. "Gemini." She whispered again, holding onto the bottle as if it were an imaginary pointing hand. From the outside, she heard the doorbell.

"Phil's family doesn't know anyone..." Keely said to herself. She walked to the door and opened it quickly.

"Yeah?" _No need to be rude, _her angel said. _Yeah there is, _said her demon.

"Erh..." A sweaty, pimply teenager stood with a box and a manila envelope. "Is this the Diffy residence?"

"Uh huh." She mumbled, nearly interested.

"Well, is Keely Teslow here?" He squeaked. She nodded, now insightful and careful again.

"This is her." She raised her eyebrows. The boy practically threw the packages at her along with a clipboard.

"Sign." He muttered. She whipped out a pen and signed her name at the bottom. "Thank you." He took it back. She caught him staring at her left hand.

"What?" Keely looked wary.

"Were you drinking?" He spoke softer than ever. Keely had forgotten about the bottle in her grip. It seemed to fit the mold of her hand–it was made for her. She was speechless, and the delivery boy knew that. "Have a nice day." He stuttered and ran out to the truck. The man driving looked back at Keely with one eye open. She didn't think he saw, and she didn't think he'd tell. She shut the door as they pulled off the curb and walked out to her special patch of crab grass. She loved packages, but she was concerned about the fact that it was delivered here for her. Who in their right mind would do that? She saved her box for another time, and she opened the manila envelope. Two papers fell out–she read the official looking one first.

_**Official Stargazing Committee**_

**_We proclaim that today, April 21st, 2006, under all laws of astronomer's code that the star that, on April 21st, 2006, the star that falls under 154 Degrees North and 67.5 Degrees East is officially registered as_** **_The Keely Teslow star. _**

_**Registered April 8th, 2006 by a Mr. Phil Diffy of Pickford, CA.** _

Keely's heart raced. Her heart trembled. "That's my star. I know it is."She could hardly utter because her throat was so dry. She glanced at the notebook sheet of paper. What kind of heartbreak could it lead to? She took a chance and opened it to Phil's messy, legible writing.

_Keely,_

_I'm sorry for leaving._

_I'm sorry for not telling you._

_And I'm sorry for making you fall in love with me._

_If you're reading this, you might be in my backyard on the grass. I may have interrupted your stargazing. _

_I hope you were actually at my house when you got this. Otherwise I would feel as if I didn't know you at all. _

_Tonight, you've recieved your lucky star. Actually, more than one. You've also gotten this. I sent this to the post office with a message to send this to you today. I figured a week from our leave would be too early._

_I feel as though if I had told you if I had left, things would be much too awkward._

_I hope you understand. I know you don't. But...this is not where me and my family came from. And we know it's not where we belong._

_I know we'll see each other again. Maybe not physically, but maybe so. In other words, we'll find other people. Maybe we already know them. And we'll pledge our love to them, and we'll live happily knowing we're with someone we enjoy. Maybe. But only if we let it happen._

_I want you to let it happen. I want you to keep playing. Promise me you'll keep playing._

_We are in love. We'll always be in love. You can be in love with more than one person. It's been done. It'll be done again. _

_It's a coincidence that I landed in 21st Century Pickford. It's a coincidence we met each other. It's an odd coincidence that we fell in love the day before I left. For once, I didn't plan that. But we did, and that is a true coincidence. I interpret coincidences as little clues to our destinies, and this is ours. _

_This is not the end. There's never an end. This is the beginning. _

The letter made her cry. It made Phil cry writing it, and sending it off. She knew it did. She knew her best friend.

She opened the box slowly, taking the tape off with a light hand. Inside, she saw, were a few shadowed items. Taking them out, she observed each piece.

A small blue plastic bowl parted in half, obviously for food and water.

A shallowlitter tray and a pound of kitty litter.

A box of Crunchy Munchy Kittie Yummies and three cans of wet cat food.

A bright, baby blue collar with a silver bell dangling from it.

And a picture of a small yellow-orange tabby kitten pawing at the camera, and a name under it. **Starlet**, it read. She flipped it around.

_The kitten is ready to pick up at the Pickford Animal Shelter. He's been neutered and vaccinated. Just mention my name to the front desk and they'll give you Starlet._

_Don't give up, Keely._

With that, Keely Teslow threw the beer bottle at the fence. As the remnants clattered across the wooden barrier and fell to the lawn, Keely could have sworn she had seen her star wink.

Across from it, a constellation laid in the sky. She was in his arms, he was holding her tight.

"Look at the stars, my darling. Pick one from the sky. I'll give you any star you want." The clutter of stars waved a hand to the sky. Keelyglancedtowardsit, not looking astonished at all.

"Good luck." She got up and went to the glass scattered across the piece of lawn. She picked up a handful of broken glass. They shimmered in the moonlight, looking like stars themselves. "I wish you strength." She whispered to the stars, and, with a breath, blew the glass shards into the breeze.


End file.
